The US President announced at a press conference Sunday, that the emergency guidelines to combat the Wuhanvirus pandemic will be extended by 30 days. This is an extension of the 14-day measures he announced March 12.
At the contentious white house press conference, the president said, "The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. I will say it again. The peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks... Therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread."
When asked why in recent days, he floated the idea of ending the emergency measures before Easter, the Trump said it was more of an aspirational date. "We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery," he added.
Government’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, explained that the modeling which informed his estimation that wuhanvirus may kill 100 000 to 200 000 people, is entirely based on modeling assumptions.
"A model is as good as the assumptions you put into the model, and very often, many of these assumptions are based on a complexity of issues that aren't necessarily the same... from one country to another," Fauci said.
Trump suggested that the skyrocketing demand for surgical masks by some New York hospitals may not be entirely unquestionable. He urged reporters to "look into it" because "something's going on."
The President said that one of the CEOs[he had a meeting with] told him about some hospitals in New York that normally order 10 000 masks, now ordering up to 300 000.
He said, "Something is going on, and you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door? How do you go from 10,000 to 300,000? And, we have that in a lot of different places. So, somebody should probably look into that. I just don’t see from a practical standpoint how that's possible to go from that to that, and we have that happening in numerous places."
Trump insinuated it could be "something worse than hoarding." Trump is not the first to raise such concerns.
At a press conference earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "not just people taking a couple or three, I mean just actual thefts of those products...I've asked the state police to do an investigation, look at places that are selling masks, medical equipment, protective wear, feeding the anxiety."
Trump's Sunday press conference featured the usual combative and liberal 'fake news' reporters peppering him with 'gotcha' questions. He called out CNN and PBS reporter for their negativity and blatant lies about his past comments.